Gold Street Cafe patrons know good food worth saving

Restaurants come and go all the time in Redding, so rare indeed is the story of the Gold Street Cafe, saved from closing by heroic employees and generous patrons.

When owner Angela Lancaster was faced with an unexpected $9,000 bill, her staff and customers rallied behind her, raising $1,600 more than the goal. Lancaster and crew took the excess cash to Mercy Medical Center and gave it to the husband of Marcella Wagner, the pregnant Redding woman paralyzed in a car crash last month.

The Gold Street Café, a Redding landmark for decades, is one of my favorite breakfast spots. Lancaster, a native of Cottonwood, bought it in 2005 and has since added many homey touches -- house plants, artwork, family photos, pastel-colored plates and coffee cups. The new paint inside and out gives the place a warm feel. "This is going to be my home," she said of the reason for the makeover. Lancaster worked as a server at the diner for a year before she bought the place.

Popular breakfast items include the eggs benedict (made with house-made hollandaise sauce with real butter), the country scramble and the corned beef hash. I remember once talking to a woman from Susanville who regularly dropped in for the pecan waffle.

Regulars include retirees, lawyers from along Court Street, and folks going to or coming from visits to medical offices in the west Redding neighborhood.

I especially like sitting at the counter and nursing a cup of coffee while reading the paper – a real old-fashioned diner experience.

During the big fundraiser that saved her business, Lancaster posted this on the diner's Facebook page: "Thank you for all the support, I am so blessed to have the most amazing customers!!!"

I dropped by early on the last day of the fundraiser and the place was packed. As I was eating my order of bacon, eggs and potatoes, a woman came in, bought no food and handed the cashier $60 cash.

People always say this community is so amazing when it's time to step up – what happened to Angela Lancaster and the Gold Street Cafe is just another example of that.